BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab quits Public Accounts Committee panel in protest

Mahtab said it has nothing to with his report on Bofors case submitted in April.

NEW DELHI: BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, who quit as the head of a sub-panel under the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), said it has nothing to with his report on Bofors case submitted in April and his decision was based on deviation from procedures by PAC Chairman Mallikarjun Kharge.

Mahtab had been given charge of a sub-committee on excesses over voted grants and charged appropriations. “I have issues with the way the sub-committee has been constituted. We are not subordinate to Chairman and the sub-committee has been constituted without consulting any members, which is against the procedures,” said Mahtab.   

In a written submission to PAC on Monday, he said, “I am surprised to find that for the first time, a sub-committee (on excesses over voted grants and charged appropriations) of this nature is formed. There is no necessity to have a sub-committee on excesses over voted grants and charged appropriations. I decline to be associated with it. I would be happy if my name is deleted from this sub-committee of the present PAC.”

The MP from Cuttack said PAC is meeting on Wednesday and the matter will be taken up. Kharge was not available for comments. On his report on Bofors before the PAC, Mahtab said the PAC has to take up the report as per procedures and his resignation from the sub-committee is not linked to that report.
Mahtab was also removed from the panel looking into the non-compliance of certain aspects of the CAG reports of 1989 and 1990 on the Bofors Howitzer gun-deal. The case is pending before the PAC for almost 27 years.

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